Why has APP hired Mandelson, Prince of Darkness?

A Guardian investigation has revealed that Asia Pulp and Paper has
contracted the former EU trade commissioner Lord Peter Mandelson (aka The Prince of Darkness) as an advisor. Mandelson has an impressive
address book but, as this case shows, little regard for how those he advises make their money. Clearly issues around illegality and the fate of Indonesia's
rainforests don’t concern this particular Labour peer.

So
what exactly is Mandelson doing for APP? Details
remain sketchy, but it's connected to the partnership agreement between the EU
and Indonesia to tackle illegal timber that will come into force soon.

Under this
agreement and connected measures, Indonesian producers - including in those in
the Indonesian pulp and paper sector - will have to show that the timber
going into those products comes from legal sources.

And this is where things get interesting. APP has made
full use in its PR of a new Indonesian legality system for timber, SVLK, developed
partly in response to the EU-Indonesia partnership agreement and recent illegal
logging legislation adopted by the EU. The company likes to claim that it
has a "zero tolerance" for illegal timber. The only problem is that sources in
the know suggest APP’s supply chain may well not easily lend itself to
legality checks.

Perhaps this shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that APP is currently embroiled in the illegal timber
scandal we exposed earlier this year and is
also being threatened with legal action by Indonesia's environment ministry
over links to illegal logging.

Hiring Mandelson provides yet more evidence that APP's interests lie in spinning reality rather than reforming its practices. If the company is ever to prove it can
operate legally and sustainably, it needs to urgently implement new, credible
commitments to end its involvement in deforestation in Indonesia. That would
be a considerably better use of the company's time and money than hiring yet
another spin doctor, particularly one with a reputation like Mandelson’s.